Yn-  Africa 

The 


■Hartjeil  ,  -J.C. 

■ -  ^ 


Open  Door 
in  Africa 


</ 

By  Bishop  JOSEPH  C.  HARTZELL 


The  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Chuich 
Rindge  Literature  Department 
150  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City 


The  Open  Door  in  Africa 


Africa  is  the  last  continent  to  be  opened  to  the 
Gospel,  and  her  peoples  are  the  last  great  section 
of  the  human  family  to  be  reached  by  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Christ.  It  is  marvelous  how  quickly 
God  does  things  when  the  right  time  comes. 
How  long  it  took  to  get  ready  for  the  birth  of 
the  Saviour!  During  all  the  centuries  God  was 
leading  up  to  that  event,  and  when  the  full¬ 
ness  of  time  came  the  Star  of  Bethehem  shone 
and  the  angels  proclaimed  the  glad  news  that 
Christ  was  born.  So  it  is  with  continents  and 
races.  The  fullness  of  time  has  come,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  to  Africa  and  her  people, 
as  certainly  as  it  did  in  the  coming  of  our  Lord, 
in  the  supreme  moment  of  the  world’s  redemp¬ 
tion. 

How  quickly  it  has  all  been  done!  Only  yester¬ 
day  that  vast  continent  was  under  a  veil  of 
mystery.  On  the  northeast  corner  in  the  distant 
past  that  veil  was  lifted  by  the  peoples  of  Asia 
and  there  developed  the  civilizations  of  Egypt. 
Later,  along  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  the  edge 
of  that  veil  was  lifted  a  little  and  cities  and 
empires  gi’ew  and  passed  away.  In  still  later 
times  along  both  coasts  and  in  the  far  south, 
the  edges  of  the  continent  were  explored;  but 
that  vast  continent,  the  oldest  of  the  earth  and 
one  destined  to  have  a  very  large  place  in  the 
future  of  the  world,  was  hidden  in  mystery. 
We  know  not  for  how  many  thousands  of  years 

2 


her  multitudes  dwelling  in  barbaric  heathenism 
had  been  babbling  their  many  tongues.  We  know 
only  that  there  was  mystery  and  tragedy  and 
uncertainty.  When  the  world  needed  this  new 
continent  for  the  extension  of  her  commerce  and 
her  population,  and  when  the  time  had  come  for 
God’s  final  challenge  to  the  Church  for  the  last 
dark  continent  in  the  redemption  of  the  world, 
then  how  quickly  that  veil  was  lifted!  We  now 
look  upon  the  map  of  all  Africa,  trace  her  rivers, 
sound  her  lakes,  measure  her  mountains,  estimate 
her  wealth,  count  her  peoples  and  study  their 
religions. 

The  Hastening  of  History  Making 

On  no  other  continent  have  so  many  wonderful 
things  been  done  in  so  brief  a  time.  Only  in 
our  time  was  it  possible  to  overcome  the  physical 
difficulties  of  subduing  that  continent.  The  great 
Sahara  Desert  and  the  Abyssinian  Mountains 
confined  the  Roman  Empire,  the  early  Christian 
Church,  and  Egyptian  ambition  to  the  lower  val¬ 
leys  of  the  Nile  and  a  little  strip  along  the  Medi¬ 
terranean.  Many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives 
were  lost  as  the  centuries  passed  in  attempts 
to  penetrate  the  interior  through  the  deadly 
malaria  of  the  coasts.  The  modern  railway  alone 
could  carry  civilization  to  the  heart  of  Africa. 
Medical  science  has  now  begun  to  gi’apple  suc¬ 
cessfully  with  the  fevers  of  Africa  and  of  other 
tropical  climates.  At  no  other  period  of  modern 
times  were  the  diplomatic  relations  of  Europe 
such  as  to  have  permitted  the  parceling  out  of 
a  continent  and  the  organization  of  colonial 
governments  over  so  vast  an  area,  without  tre¬ 
mendous  wars.  Africa  to-day  presents  an  era  of 
nation-building  without  a  precedent  in  history, 

3 


while  exploration,  commerce,  diplomacy,  science 
and  missionary  movements  are  centering  upon 
that  continent  in  a  most  marvelous  manner. 

It  was  only  in  1845  that  the  immortal  Living¬ 
stone  was  threading  his  way  northward  from 
Capetown  through  Bechuanaland  two  thousand 
miles  to  the  Zambesi.  He  discovered  Victoria 
Falls,  and  pushed  eastward  across  the  continent 
to  the  shores  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  That  journey 
was  inspired  of  God  in  the  heart  of  that  Christian 
missionary,  and  its  story  startled  and  aroused 
the  Christian  world.  Other  discoveries  followed, 
and  then  came  the  organization  of  the  Congo 
Free  State  by  a  congress  of  nations  at  Brussels. 
This  great  event  also  was  providential,  for  King 
Leopold  had  a  supreme  desire  to  benefit  Africa. 
How  quickly  government  has  come!  Only  yester¬ 
day  hordes  of  lawless  barbarians  preying  upon 
one  another  and  to-day  that  whole  continent 
divided  among  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe! 
That  means  very  much.  It  means  law.  It  means 
protection.  It  means  the  possibility  all  over  the 
continent  of  peaceful  advantage  in  agriculture, 
trade,  the  development  of  cities,  states  and  civil 
government.  How  quickly  it  has  all  come ! 

The  End  of  European  Wars  in  Africa 

The  close  of  the  South  African  War  marks  the 
end  of  this  brief  but  momentous  period  in  the 
history  of  Africa,  which  was  begun  by  the  ex¬ 
plorations  of  Livingstone.  Pretoria,  where  the 
terms  of  peace  between  the  Briton  and  the  Boer 
were  signed,  will  be  another  historic  spot,  not  only 
as  relates  to  the  English  and  Dutch  peoples,  but 
to  the  whole  of  the  African  continent.  It  means 
the  end  of  European  wars  in  Africa.  From  now 

4 


on  the  dividing  line  between  the  colonial  posses¬ 
sions  of  different  nations  in  Africa  are  prac¬ 
tically  adjusted  and  the  administrative  and  diplo¬ 
matic  forces  of  England  and  France  and  Germany 
and  the  other  nations  interested  will  be  concen¬ 
trated  upon  questions  of  practical  government, 
the  development  of  the  continent,  and  the  best 
interests  of  the  multitudes  of  natives. 

The  end  of  this  historic  period  also  means  that 
all  Africa  is  now  open  to  the  forces  of  Christianity. 
Very  soon  there  will  be  a  continental  system  of 
railways  with  commercial  enterprises  and  inter¬ 
communication  everywhere;  there  will  be  a  vast 
agricultural  and  mineral  wealth ;  growth  of  centers 
of  power  wherever  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  will 
be  possible,  and  the  development  of  permanent 
government  among  the  natives  throughout  the 
whole  continent.  Never  before  in  the  history  of 
the  world  was  that  possible,  but  God’s  fullness 
of  time  had  come  for  Africa. 

The  Immensity  of  the  Continent 

It  is  difficult  to  realize  how  large  an  open  door 
God  has  placed  before  the  Church  in  Africa.  There 
is  room  enough  on  the  lower  end  of  the  continent 
for  the  whole  of  the  United  States  with  her 
85,000,000  of  people;  Europe  with  her  many  states 
and  hundreds  of  millions  can  be  placed  on  one 
side  of  Central  Africa;  China  with  her  400,000,000 
could  be  accommodated  on  the  other  half  of  Central 
Africa,  and  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  all  India, 
with  her  300,000,000  and  England  and  Wales,  Scot¬ 
land  and  Ireland  in  the  lower  valleys  of  the  Nile 
and  along  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean;  while 
there  is  plenty  of  room  for  Porto  Kico  and  the 
Philippines  on  the  islands  of  Zanzibar  and  Mada- 

5 


gascar  and  other  islands  on  the  East  and  West 
Coasts.  The  12,500,000  square  miles  of  territory- 
on  the  African  continent  equals  that  of  all  other 
countries  in  which  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
has  foreign  missions! 

What  Has  Been  Done  for  Africa 

Something  is  being  done  by  the  Church  in 
Africa.  There  are  forty  missionary  societies  at 
work,  and  at  some  centers,  considering  the  diffi¬ 
culties,  good  work  has  been  accomplished  among 
the  natives.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  in 
the  great  European  centers,  like  Capetown  and 
Johannesburg,  there  are  churches  and  schools  and 
philanthropic  efforts  among  the  white  people. 
But  the  great  continent  has  scarcely  been  touched 
by  the  Christian  Church.  In  North  Africa  it 
has  been  estimated  there  is  only  one  Protestant 
missionary  to  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
Mohammedans;  in  Sahara  one  Protestant  mis¬ 
sionary  to  two  million  five  hundred  thousand 
Mohammedans  and  pagans;  in  Sudan,  one  Pro¬ 
testant  missionary  to  forty-five  million  Moham¬ 
medans  and  pagans;  in  West  Africa,  one  Pro¬ 
testant  missionary  to  thirty  thousand  pagans; 
in  Central  Africa  one  missionary  to  eighty  thou¬ 
sand  pagans;  in  South  Africa,  one  missionary  to 
fourteen  thousand  pagans.  Think  of  it,  in  the 
great  heart  of  the  continent  one  lone  Protestant 
missionary  to  forty-five  millions  of  pagans  and 
Mohammedans!  The  Christian  Church  as  a  whole 
has  not  yet  taken  Africa  seriously  to  heart.  No 
land  has  had  more  heroic  men  and  women.  Six 
hundred  have  laid  down  their  lives  for  the  ex¬ 
ploration  of  the  continent  and  the  price  already 
paid  for  Africa,  in  the  lives  of  missionaries,  has 

6 


been  great;  but  still,  the  deaths  of  missionaries 
in  Africa  are  only  a  small  per  cent  of  the  number 
of  deaths  among  the  tens  of  thousands  who  flock 
to  that  continent  to  make  money,  to  study  science, 
or  to  win  fame  or  wealth  in  government  or  com¬ 
merce.  The  chief  work  of  Methodism  in  Africa 
up  to  date  has  been  that  of  the  Wesleyan  Church 
in  South  Africa  and  on  the  West  Coast.  The 
work  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  been 
in  no  way  commensurate  with  her  wealth  of 
workers  and  money  and  her  responsibilities  be¬ 
fore  God. 

Our  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  work  on 
the  West  Coast  in  Liberia  in  Angola,  and  in  the 
Madeira  Islands.  On  the  East  Coast  we  have 
work  in  the  Portuguese  district  of  Inhambane 
and  in  Rhodesia. 


Liberia 

Let  us  begin  with  Liberia,  that  little  black  re¬ 
public  born  out  of  philanthropic  plans  of  good 
Americans  a  hundred  years  ago.  Their  motives 
were  different.  Some  thought  to  benefit  slavery 
by  the  removal  of  free  negroes  from  the  South, 
and  others  had  different  views,  but  all  felt  that 
in  the  end  Liberia  would  be  a  center  where  Amer¬ 
ican  negroes  could  better  their  condition  and  in¬ 
augurate  a  movement  toward  the  evangelization 
of  the  continent.  All  that  was  anticipated  has 
not  been  realized,  but  the  little  nation  lives  and 
is  recognized  and  protected  by  the  great  nations 
of  the  world.  Its  territory  extends  three  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  along  the  coast  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  into  the  interior,  and  is  one  of 
the  richest  sections  of  the  West  Coast.  A  new 
era  seems  to  have  dawned  commercially  upon  the 
republic.  A  charter  has  been  granted  to  a  large 

7 


English  company  to  explore  and  develop  its  agri¬ 
cultural  and  mineral  wealth  and  increase  its  gen¬ 
eral  commerce. 

It  was  in  Liberia  that  our  first  foreign  mis¬ 
sion  was  established  in  1833,  when  Melville  B. 
Cox  so  quickly  and  joyfully  laid  dowm  his  life, 
having  asked  that  on  his  tombstone  should  be 
written,  “  Though  a  thousand  fall,  let  not  Africa 
be  given  up.”  The  history  of  our  Liberia  Mission 
is  a  checkered  one  of  mingled  victory  and  defeat, 
and  some  day  must  be  written  by  a  wise  historian. 
The  best  news  that  I  have  to  give  you  from 
Liberia  is  that  a  new  spirit  of  helpfulness  and 
aggressiveness  is  taking  possession  of  that  Con¬ 
ference.  We  have  about  one  hundred  workers, 
including  ministers  and  laymen,  who  are  ap¬ 
pointed  each  year  to  districts,  schools,  churches, 
and  missions.  I  held  the  Conference  at  Grand 
Bassa  in  1902,  in  a  new  brick  church  that  cost 
four  thousand  dollars  and  which  was  built  by  the 
people  themselves  except  what  I  gave  them  for 
the  windows  and  roof.  The  same  town  and 
neighborhood  has  subscribed  two  thousand  dollars 
toward  a  high  school  building.  In  Monrovia,  the 
capital,  we  have  our  strongest  church.  It  is  also 
the  best  one  in  the  republic.  It  is  self-supporting, 
and  besides  giving  two  thousand  dollars  toward 
the  enlargement  of  our  college  building  it  is  build¬ 
ing  a  two-thousand-dollar  parsonage.  Other 
churches  among  the  Americo -Liberians  are  be¬ 
coming  self-supporting,  and  my  word  to  them 
is  that  my  first  mission  in  Liberia  is  to  teach 
them  how  to  help  themselves.  We  have  our  Col¬ 
lege  of  West  Africa  located  at  the  capital,  and 
twenty-nine  primary  schools  in  different  parts 
of  the  republic.  We  have  our  printing  press  and 
outfit,  which  is  worth  six  thousand  dollars.  Here 

8 


we  print  The  'New  Africa,  a  thirty-two-page 
monthly,  Sunday  school  literature  and  tracts  and 
songs  in  several  native  languages.  A  very  im¬ 
portant  part  of  our  Liberia  work  is  included  in 
the  purely  native  stations. 

This  work  in  Liberia  is  in  great  need.  Scarcely 
anything  has  been  done  for  many  years  in  build¬ 
ing,  and  many  of  our  mission  stations  are  unfit 
for  habitation,  and  yet  our  brave  workers  patch 
up  the  roofs  and  prop  up  the  sides  and  get 

through  the  rainy  season  as  best  they  can.  We 

are  short  of  w'orkers  for  the  stations  we  have, 
and  have  been  compelled  to  abandon  many  of 
them  and  center  at  the  principal  ones.  And  then 
w'hat  of  the  vast  regions  beyond  ?  I  sent  one 
missionary  a  journey  seven  days  into  the  interior, 
and  the  stories  he  brought  of  healthful  valleys 
and  plains  and  of  fine  types  of  negroes  who  have 
never  seen  a  white  man  stirred  my  soul.  But 
what  could  I  do  ?  That  missionary  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  come  home,  and  I  have  not  sufficient 
force  to  man  even  the  station  from  which  he 

started.  How  long  must  the  work  in  Liberia  be 

practically  confined  to  the  most  unhealthy  coast 
region  and  the  vast  open  doors  beyond  be  neg¬ 
lected?  If  I  had  five  thousand  dollars  to  establish 
an  industrial  mission  a  hundred  miles  from  the 
coast  it  would  soon  support  itself. 

Angola 

Down  the  coast  past  the  mouth  of  the  great 
Congo  River  we  reach  St.  Paul  de  Luanda,  the 
oldest  city  on  the  West  Coast,  with  five  thousand 
Portuguese  and  thirty-five  thousand  natives.  This 
great  center  of  Angola  has  been  practically  un¬ 
occupied  for  ten  years  for  lack  of  workers  and 

9 


money,  but  I  have  taken  the  responsibility  of 
buying  property  and  opening  the  work.  It  had 
to  be  done.  It  is  the  key  to  our  West  Central 
Africa  Mission  Conference,  where  we  have  a  ter¬ 
ritory  of  nearly  four  hundred  thousand  square 
miles  among  a  choice  class  of  natives.  Extending 
out  three  hundred  miles  to  Malange,  we  have  our 
other  four  central  stations,  and  besides  these  we 
have  smaller  stations  under  the  care  of  native 
preachers.  This  work  has  been  thoroughly  or¬ 
ganized.  We  have  a  well-equipped  mission  press 
at  Quiongua,  and  are  publishing  the  Scriptures, 
tracts,  a  four-page  paper,  and  will  soon  publish 
a  series  of  text-books  for  our  native  schools. 
We  have  two  industrial  schools  which  are  self- 
supporting  and  which  aid  largely  in  building. 
One  school  built  a  good  native  church  and  made 
the  furniture,  and  is  now  building  a  schoolhouse 
at  Quiongua.  The  other  school  is  helping  to  build 
at  Quessua.  The  Kimbundu  language  of  these 
people  is  one  of  the  best  in  Africa.  This  Con¬ 
ference  needs  at  least  six  new  workers  at  once 
to  maintain  it  wdth  efficiency  as  it  is,  and  there 
is  need  of  a  few  thousand  dollars  to  be  put  into 
inexpensive  buildings  at  several  points.  And  then 
wdiat  of  the  regions  beyond?  Gradually  a  high¬ 
way  is  being  opened  up  for  commerce  in  a  vast 
section  where  there  are  no  missionaries,  and  where 
the  voice  of  God  has  been  calling  for  thousands 
of  years  to  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Madeira  Islands 

In  the  Madeira  Islands,  w'here  God  has  opened 
up  the  Avork  to  us  so  marvelously  among  the 
Portuguese,  the  city  of  Funchal  and  its  suburbs 
have  sixty  thousand  people,  and  on  a  single  island 

10 


there  are  as  many  more.  Over  them  has  been  the 
rule  of  Roman  Catholic  Jesuitism  for  four  hundred 
years.  While  no  one  shall  go  beyond  me  in  the 
appreciation  of  the  good  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  is  doing,  still  it  must  be  said  that  Roman 
Catholic  Jesuitism  is  an  organized  conspiracy 
against  the  civil  and  religious  liberty  of  the  world. 
Sixty  years  ago  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  physician 
did  a  remarkable  work  among  these  Portuguese 
Roman  Catholics.  Besides  his  work  as  a  physi¬ 
cian,  he  had  schools  and  taught  the  people  to 
read  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue.  Twelve  or 
fifteen  hundred  became  Protestants  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years,  and  insisted  on  reading  the  Bible 
themselves  and  worshiping  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  consciences.  A  great  perse¬ 
cution  arose,  and  the  day  was  fixed  when  Dr. 
Kalley,  the  missionary,  and  all  his  followers  w'ere 
to  be  exterminated.  After  a  while  it  Avas  thought 
that  all  the  Protestants  had  been  driven  from  the 
island.  However,  a  little  precious  seed  remained, 
and  only  a  short  distance  from  where  Dr.  Kalley 
had  his  wonderful  work  in  the  mountains  we  have 
our  Mount  Faith  Mission,  with  nearly  fifty  men 
and  women  recently  converted  and  who  testify 
to  God’s  love,  and  as  many  more  youth  in  our 
Sunday  and  day  schools.  In  four  years  the  results 
of  this  work  have  been  most  encouraging,  and 
near  by  are  other  islands  of  large  populations 
where  Protestantism  has  open  doors.  I  have  had 
only  five  hundred  dollars  mission  money  each  year 
for  this  work.  The  remainder  of  the  annual  ex¬ 
pense  of  three  thousand  dollars  and  over  to  main¬ 
tain  five  missionaries,  build  and  equip  our  build¬ 
ings  at  Mount  Faith,  has  been  raised  among 
friends. 


11 


Inhambane 


On  the  southeast  coast  of  the  continent,  at 
Inhambane,  five  years  ago  we  had  one  missionary, 
one  native  station,  and  a  few  native  members. 
Now  we  have  six  native  stations  with  hundreds 
of  members  and  calls  from  many  directions  for 
workers  in  a  population  of  several  millions.  Here 
we  have  another  press  and  outfit  and  are  printing 
a  series  of  text-books  for  the  native  schools  and 
religious  tracts,  and  a  large  amount  of  work  is 
being  done  in  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures. 
We  must  have  at  least  four  new  missionaries  for 
this  center.  Our  schools  for  boys  and  girls  must 
have  buildings.  At  no  other  point  of  our  work 
in  Africa  can  so  much  be  done  for  the  same 
amount  of  money. 


Rhodesia 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  up  the  coast  is 
Beira,  the  east  ocean  port  for  all  Rhodesia.  It 
is  already  a  city  of  several  thousand  people.  Here 
are  European  whites,  Indians,  Chinese,  and  great 
numbers  of  natives.  For  several  years  I  have 
hoped  that  the  way  would  be  open  to  send  a  man 
to  this  point.  We  must  occupy  it.  It  is  the 
ocean  key  to  all  our  work  in  East  Africa,  but  I 
have  not  had  the  money,  although  the  work  could 
be  made  self-supporting  after  the  first  or  second 
year. 

Two  hundred  miles  by  rail  brings  us  to  the 
mountainous  table-lands  of  eastern  Rhodesia,  with 
Umtali  for  the  first  center  of  European  popula¬ 
tion,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  gold-bearing  and  agri¬ 
cultural  section.  As  a  result  of  correspondence 


and  many  interviews  with  representatives  of  the 
British  South  Africa  Company  in  Rhodesia  and 
England  and  many  a  wearying  journey  relating 
to  property  titles  and  other  necessary  matters, 
and  also  representation  to  the  Church  at  home, 
securing  money  and  workers,  I  was  permitted, 
with  my  heart  overflowing  with  gratitude  to  God, 
November  16,  1901,  to  organize  the  East  Central 
Africa  Mission  Conference  at  Umtali.  It  was  a 
great  event  for  that  part  of  the  continent.  It 
was  the  founding  of  a  new  spiritual  empire,  an¬ 
other  section  of  our  world-wide  Methodism.  There 
were  present  eighteen  picked  white  men  and 
women  from  America.  The  acquisition  of  property 
had  been  remarkable.  The  chief  single  gift  was 
thirteen  thousand  acres  of  land  with  buildings 
worth  seventy  thousand  dollars  in  a  beautiful 
valley  ten  miles  from  the  town  and  railroad, 
where  we  are  developing  a  great  industrial  native 
station,  and  where  already  good  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  mastery  of  languages,  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  a  farm  and  mechanical  shops,  and  gather¬ 
ing  herds  of  stock,  opening  schools,  and  doing 
evangelical  work  among  the  neighboring  native 
towns. 

In  the  village  of  Umtali  our  native  work  is 
having  remarkable  progress.  We  already  have 
one  self-supporting  church  where  the  people  sup¬ 
port  their  preacher  and  teacher,  and  lands  have 
been  secured  in  several  towns  in  the  vicinity 
where,  in  a  few  months,  we  will  have  other 
churches  filled  with  interested  and  anxious  wor¬ 
shipers.  The  present  force  on  the  field  can  or¬ 
ganize  these  churches,  but  I  must  have  one  or 
two  more  good  missionaries  to  take  charge  of 
this  enlarging  work  and  to  teach  native  helpers 
and  to  prepare  them  as  quickly  as  possible  for 

13 


permanent  service.  In  the  Umtali  native  church 
over  sixty  have  been  converted  during  1902. 

In  this  center  we  have  our  first  development 
among  the  European  and  African  white  people 
of  the  continent.  These  are  made  up  of  people 
connected  with  railroads,  government  officials, 
and  tliose  engaged  in  commerce,  mining,  and  agri¬ 
culture.  ]\Iost  of  these  have  emigrated  from 
Europe  and  other  countries,  but  a  good  percent¬ 
age  are  Africanders,  born  and  reared  in  Cape 
Colony  or  other  sections  of  Africa.  Within  a  few 
miles  are  gold-mining  centers,  so  that  altogether 
in  that  section  there  are  now,  perhaps,  fifteen 
hundred  white  people,  and  their  number  will  in-„ 
crease  rapidly  now  that  the  war  is  over,  and  great 
plans  are  being  inaugurated  for  the  development 
of  South  Africa. 

Among  these  people  we  have  a  self-supporting 
academy.  We  secured  a  property  that  cost  thirty- 
one  thousand  dollars  for  half  that  sum.  The 
government  gave  five  thousand  dollars  and  loaned 
us  the  balance  at  five  per  cent  interest  until  we 
could  raise  it.  We  have  a  hundred  pupils  and 
five  depai’tments.  Kindergarten,  Music,  Primary, 
Intermediate,  and  High  School.  We  have  four 
teachers.  The  government  also  pays  one  half  the 
salaries  of  the  teachers  and  one  half  the  expenses 
of  equipping  the  schools.  The  tuition  pays  the 
other  half,  so  that  we  have  this  splendid  property, 
and  this  flourishing  school  without  the  use  of 
a  dollar  of  missionary  money.  Here,  as  the  popu¬ 
lation  increases,  will  be  our  future  college  and 
Christian  training  school.  We  have  also  organized 
the  St.  Andrew’s  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  our 
first  church  for  European  and  African  white 
people  on  the  continent.  The  corner-stone  of  a 
ten-thousand-dollar  church  has  been  laid.  Three 


14 


quarters  of  the  expense  of  this  church  was  pro¬ 
vided  for  on  the  ground.  This  East  Central  Africa 
Mission  Conference  includes  all  our  work  on  the 
East  Coast,  and  is  certainly  a  phenomenal  be¬ 
ginning  in  so  brief  a  time,  where  in  1897  we  had 
nothing  but  the  little  start  at  Inhambane.  Our 
property,  not  counting  the  thirteen  thousand  acres 
of  land,  the  value  of  which  is  sure  to  be  great  in 
the  near  future,  is  worth  over  one  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  dollars.  Where  has  there  been  a  more  provi¬ 
dential  or  remarkable  development  in  a  single 
mission  field  in  our  time? 

Great  Centers  Yet  Untouched 

And  now  stand  with  me  for  a  moment  on  the 
summit  of  a  mountain  five  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea  in  the  midst  of  our  large  industrial  mis¬ 
sion  estate,  and  contemplate  the  open  doors  north, 
south,  east,  and  west  where  there  are  great  cen¬ 
ters  of  black  populations  as  yet  untouched  with 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Concessions  of  land  are 
offered,  the  native  chiefs  are  calling  for  “  book 
religion,”  and  the  governments  are  friendly.  It 
is  the  opportune  time.  Especially  as  I  look  north¬ 
ward,  and  know  that  as  the  result  of  consultations 
with  government  officials,  all  of  whom  are 
friendly  to  Christian  missions,  a  large  concession 
of  land  can  be  secured  near  the  very  heart  of  the 
continent,  near  by  or  through  which  will  pass  the 
railway  which,  in  a  few  years,  will  connect  with 
the  road  from  Cairo  at  Khartoum,  0,  how  my 
heart  longs  to  secure  that  great  central  location! 
I  know  that  my  years  in  Africa  will  be  too  few 
to  develop  it,  but  it  will  remain  as  a  heritage  of 
faith  and  possibilities  to  my  successor  and  his 
associates ! 


15 


In  1896  I  started  to  Africa  scarcely  knowing 
whither  I  went.  The  first  tour  of  exploration  and 
study  required  over  fifty-five  thousand  miles  of 
travel,  some  of  it  under  the  most  difficult  condi¬ 
tions  as  to  climate,  sickness,  and  modes  of  trans¬ 
portation.  Subsequent  tours  have  enabled  me  to 
organize  the  work,  to  understand  its  needs,  to 
realize  the  heroism  of  our  missionaries  on  the 
field,  and  to  know  how  great  the  need  for  large 
reinforcements.  More  than  this,  the  map  of  the 
continent  of  Africa,  with  its  systems  of  rivers 
and  lakes,  its  mountains,  its  plateaus,  its  devel¬ 
oping  cities,  its  great  commercial  enterprises,  its 
mining  and  agricultural  possibilities,  its  steam¬ 
ship  lines  belting  its  coasts  over  and  over  again, 
its  governments  facing  vast  responsibilities,  and 
its  multiplying  millions  of  natives  with  the  in¬ 
finite  pathos  of  their  moral  condition  —  all  this 
has  been  burned  into  my  very  soul,  and  if  I 
could  have  a  thousand  tongues  and  each  of  them 
could  be  inspired  with  the  faith  of  the  prophets 
of  old,  all  should  be  dedicated  to  pleading  for 
that  continent. 


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